I borrowed the LP from a schoolfriend and, when he returned to collect it, I asked him incredulously how he could listen to it. "I can work to it," came his reply, which seemed shocking at the time. We were used to giving 100% of our attention and involvement to the likes of Deep Purple's 'Made in Japan' and Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust'. The idea of music which you could ignore seemed ridiculous. The music you listened to was a social and political statement -- you could get beaten up at bus stops by other schoolboys simply for saying you preferred Slade when you should have said T. Rex. Before the advent of video and videogames, music was far too important to be classified simply as wallpaper.

Well that was then, and by now I must own nearly 100 ambient albums and many Eno or Eno-tinged CDs. I have to say that in retrospect this album owes as much to Robert Fripp as it does to Eno. Its sound is closer to 'Lark Tongues' or 'Red' than it is to 'For Your Pleasure', 'Warm Jets' or 'Tiger Mountain'. Fripp and Eno both belonged to the EG stable, and you'll find in Fripp's sleevenotes to several of King Crimson's recent CDs just how appalling EG were in the area of management. If one of the two hadn't belonged to EG, then this album could have been made.

This music was designed to be listened to via headphones. And yes, 28 years on, I find I CAN work to it.


finest aural wallpaper   October 3, 2000
 8 out of 9 found this review helpful

Swastika Girls builds up slowly with curious looped curlicues and odd sounds like birds in pain. Then Fripp starts to solo. At some point, he lets out a line which curves upward and explodes out of the roof of the music, and suddenly stops. Typical Fripp. He suddenly CONNECTS with that thing we know he NEEDS to express, and then gets embarrassed. It's like a spaceship leaving the atmosphere, or a fast, unexpected orgasm. Totally electrifying. Thereafter, he hits unusual angles implicit, but extremely unobvious, in the scales he is working with, swapping scientological transcendence just for the expression of a supreme, but less explosive, elegance. The music is like fantastical, unaffordable alien furniture; or the pricier Prada shoes. Heavenly Music Corporation is organic, like a breathing peat bog sending out electrical signals. It prefigures Eno's `On Land'. At the roots of ambient are epiphany (SG), and darkness (HMC). These guys had it covered long ago...

The record was made in 1973. That really WAS a long time ago. The creativity and vision Eno and Fripp harness here is awesome. After this, a whole tranche of `ambient' rock. The pretty stuff: Sylvian, Cocteau Twins; the dark stuff: Main. This key record sounds like it was knocked up fast and rather casually while Fripp would have been worrying about Larks' Tongues and Eno obsessing over Taking Tiger Mountain. (At the time, Island released `Pussyfooting' as a budget imprint. Tellingly, the vinyl label design is the best they ever came up with.) But don't forget, the protagonists are both bloody geniuses (Fripp a frustrating one, tho') who have never done anything less than influential. Did I mention the possibility of your considering purchasing it? Galvanising, life-enriching stuff; the very finest aural wallpaper money can buy.


Buyer beware   October 29, 2001
 8 out of 20 found this review helpful

Only connoisseurs of the oddest forms of popular music will be apt to enjoy the appropriately titled No Pussyfooting. In 1973, the first collaboration between sonic experimenter Brian Eno and King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp stretched non-linear forms of music-making further than ever before. The album's two songs (almost twenty minutes each) are a coating of repeating melodies and intricate static. This album introduced Frippertonics, a system by which a guitar riff is looped and then layered by others. It is also the first known relic of Eno's innovation of the ambient music, music being used as an atmosphere rather than a statement. No Pussyfooting may be an excellent backgroad for reading or studying, but a listener must have a pretty high tolerance for the experimental and unconventional for me to recommend this album.


Stretching Tape   August 6, 2000
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

I like this album. It is interesting and worthwhile. The reason I offer 3 stars is because the idea surpasses its execution. Later work by both of these talented musicians far exceeds the seed of ideas planted here. That written, there is still a captivating presence with this music which was recorded in the early seventies. This is a side piece for both Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. In the same year of its release, Fripp worked with King Crimson to create "Lark's Tongues in Aspic". While Eno was working with Roxy Music on "For Your Pleasure" as well as a solo project titled "Here Come the Warm Jets". This is their chance to stretch out and expand their limits. Perhaps, they were influenced by the electronic experimentations of the Cologne or New York musicians. The first piece "Heavenly Music Corporation" features a two-tape-machine setup which Eno explains on his "Discrete Music" album. Fripp introduces phrases which are still part of his vocabulary today and can be heard in his Crimson projects, most recently with Adrian Belew and Trey Gunn. The ideas in this piece resurface in a more developed state in "Index of Metals" also by Fripp and Eno. The second song is succinctly put, a guitar solo. And yet, so much more. Fripp earns creative points, if for nothing else, than for creating something that we never heard from Eric Clapton. Not something many were able to do in the early seventies. Repetitive tape loops form the rhythmic centre over which Fripp expresses his unique style of intensity and humour. Despite the name "Swastika Girls", it is not threatening and is closer to the Asian meaning of the swastika which is a temple. In all, this is a fun collection by two musicians enjoying themselves. If you are interested in tape music of the early seventies or simply would like to hear what talented musicians do on rainy days to amuse themselves, this album will be interesting to you


what dreams are made of   February 21, 2005
 6 out of 8 found this review helpful

I don't remember how I first discovered this CD, twenty plus years ago; but, thankfully I did.

This is music that demands your attention. Headphones are strongly recommended. At the very least, one should have a good surround sound system. The music carries you in and out of a dream like state; it's utterly fascinating. Even if you try to put it on as background music, it draws you in; it's hard to ignore.

I'm assuming, if you are here and reading these reviews, you're already familiar with these two artists, Fripp and Eno. With that qualified, I highly encourage you to purchase this CD.